Darlene Ballard, of the Commission of Judicial Performance, said there's no rule preventing Cooper-Stokes from wearing a hat.

"The only rule regarding attire for the courtroom is that judges have to wear a robe when conducting proceedings in an open courtroom. There is nothing in the judicial canons regarding headwear for judges," said Darlene Ballard of the Commission of Judicial Performance. "We did have a Justice Court judge at one time that liked to wear his cowboy hat to the bench, but once he sat down on the bench he would remove his cowboy hat to conduct the proceedings. It never rose to the level of taking any action against him because he did remove it before he began the proceedings."